Israeli technology saves the day, again.
By: United with Israel Staff
The British Army used a cutting-edge Israeli-developed anti-drone system to defeat the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that brought about the 36-hour shutdown of the Gatwick Airport and the cancellation of some 750 flights last week.
The UK’s Daily Mail reported Friday that the British Army bought six Drone Dome systems for £15.8 million in 2018, and the technology is used by the Army in Syria and Iraq to take down UAVs flown by the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group.
Police tried to use the technology they had in their possession, which proved useless because the drone used at Gatwick was either hacked or an advanced drone, and therefore the Army’s Drone Dome system made by Israel’s Rafael was called in.
“Very pleased to see Israeli technology being used at Gatwick airport to make flights possible again,” tweeted Lord Eric Pickles.
“GOOD news for travelers, BAD news for those peddling a boycott of Israeli goods,” he added.
Rafael, an Israeli defense technology company, describes the system as “designed to provide effective airspace defense against hostile drones used by terrorists to perform aerial attacks, collect intelligence, and other intimidating activities.”
It uses four radars to give full 360-degree coverage to scan the entire skyline.
Police arrested two suspects late Friday in the worst drone-inflicted travel chaos to hit Britain. Suspects are a 47-year-old man his 54-year-old wife from Crawley. They were arrested on suspicion of disrupting civil aviation and could face a punishment of life in prison.
The motive for their aggressive drone flights has not been established, but officials say there are no indications it is “terror-related.” There have been no new drone sightings since the arrests.
AP contributed to this report.